Uncle Julio's Lubbock — Restaurant in Lubbock

Recently moved to Lubbock and Uncle Julio's was recommended to me by a coworker.

The ambiance is nice, our food was great and the server was amazing. However, the hostess was incredibly rude and it just soured the entire experience. Had things gone differently with the hostess, this would have been a 5 star review but I probably won't go back. Also, one of the managers ignored a request to speak with him about our complaint.

We arrived at about 4pm. The hostess guided us to a booth, said our server would be over shortly and ran off. There wasn't anyone else waiting but she seemed to be in such a rush to be done with us.

Anyhow, my uncle had left his phone in the car and he went to get it. When he came back in, he mentioned that he would prefer to sit at one of the open tables because he is claustrophobic and the booth felt too enclosed. An employee was walking by and we asked if we could move tables. He said yes, helped us move our menus, and said he would notify the server. We did not move to a completely different area, the new table was very near our original booth.

The hostess then comes over to reproach us for moving tables. She said we could not move tables and I started to explain why we didn't want to sit at the booth. She interrupted me and said there wasn't a server in that area and we could not sit there. She was giving a lot of attitude. That's when the employee that helped us move tables came over and told her it was ok, the server was still going to handle our table. The hostess didn't say anything and just walked off. No apology or acknowledgement of the conversation she was having with us.

Everything else went well. Our server was great and attentive. One of the managers brought out our food. I believe his name was Olivado? While he was at our table, my mother asked to speak with him after our meal because she had a complaint. She was upset about the hostess and wanted to discuss what had happened. The manager said ok. He did not ask what the complaint was about but said he would come back. He never came back.

Uncle Julio's could have been a go-to place for me but as a customer, I don't deserve to be treated poorly by any of the employees and you...

Update, December 2024: We routinely order the family meal (tacos) for takeout. This time, when we got home, we discovered that the platter with lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese was missing. We also observed that the hamburger meat for the tacos was in big chunks and was pink inside. Lastly, the churros were burnt.

I called the restaurant and spoke with management. They gave us a full refund.

Even though we were disappointed with the experience up to this point, the way they handled the situation turned things around and made us want to try going there again. In the past, it has always been a good experience.

Blessings to this Uncle Julio’s location and their management and staff!

October 2023: Our family has never actually eaten here in person, but many times we’ve gotten the family taco meal via curbside pickup, and we love it.

We always order the half chicken, half beef meal with half hard shell, half soft. It comes with a tremendous amount of food—meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, rice, salsa, queso, chips, shells, churros for dessert, and probably more that I’m forgetting. There is so much that we always get three full meals out of it, plus part of a fourth meal. In other words, when we get this for takeout, it’s Uncle Julio’s all week at our house. (Our family is myself, my wife; three boys and a girl. The children are ages 8, 6, 3, and 1.)

The online ordering and pickup process is perfect The people who wait on us are always professional and courteous.

Our entire family agrees that the food is delicious. I personally like to have the chicken with the soft shell, and I have the beef with the hard shell. I don’t eat the beans and rice on the side but rather put them directly into the taco. The beans aren’t refried but instead are maybe best described as a ranch style bean.

The churros come with a chocolate sauce, plus what seems like a cream cheese based dip. Whatever is in it is tasty.

It’s a shame that Google forces me to rate the atmosphere even though we’ve never experienced it. I’m giving three stars on that part because it’s the closest to neutral that I’m able...

First time dining here. Phenomenal. Toby was our waiter. He was fast & efficient, yet patient & knowledgeable about the menu. He was not overbearing and checked on us just enough, reading our cues as to when we needed space to continue browsing the menu, time to finish attacking our appetizer, or urgency in needing to-go containers/check. Monica prepared tableside guacamole for us. She was professional and courteous, allowing us to customize the components to our taste. Husband ordered carnitas Texas Style Street Tacos & I had the Tex-Mex Combination Dinner. My husband is extremely picky about his carnitas - he LOVED this being cooked perfectly - two-ways for that delicate yet crispy texture! He said the taco shells were soft, yet crispy because they were fried in a little bit of cheese. They held up and while juicy, they were NOT saturated in grease. Great flavor balance. The beef enchiladas have a light slow-burn and a wonderful agave queso sauce. The sweet balanced with the spice just right. The chicken was so tender and the creamy Hatch sauce on top was exactly what I had hoped it would be! I'm super picky about Mexican rice, and this was not my personal favorite, although the hubby liked it just fine. Very heavily seasoned. Next time I think I will try the chipotle honey salmon and cilantro lime rice (I prefer cilantro lime rice anyway - not sure why I didn't ask to sub!). Josh checked on us after we began enjoying main entrees, and again as we prepared to-go boxes. He also surprised us with some sopapillas to go! They have a bar area inside and a large patio outside. The patio had large umbrellas and a fire pit seating area, but it was over 100 out today, so nobody was out there. Atmosphere was perfect. Upscale but not pretentious. Come as you are and be served well. Thank you for making us feel like we were on vacation for a short moment today! We will absolutely be back! P.S. No photos...we loved everything too much and never once touched our phones! That...